if you’re like me and love baking bread just as much as you love eating bread, you might occasionally have the unique, and frankly excellent, problem of sometimes being in possession of perhaps, too much bread (writing this pains me because i’d like to defend that there is no such thing as too much bread, particularly sourdough bread).
over the past few years, in addition to baking slightly smaller loaves and finding more people to share my freshly baked bread with, i’ve developed a few strategies to maximize my bread consumption and to salvage aging (or failed heh) loaves — what else is a carb-loving eco-conscious nerd to do?
1. pre-slice & freeze half
i’ve found that the shelf life of homemade sourdough is around 3 days, though the crust begins to lose its characteristic crunch much sooner than that.
let this be a game changer: you can freeze your bread, and re-toast it to revive the same texture.
i like to pre-slice the portion of the loaf i plan to freeze into toastable sizes, and then store them in a freezer bag. when i’m ready to eat, i just pull out slices one by one and pop them in the toaster on a medium-high setting. when they pop out, they’re crispy on the edges and soft in the center.
you’re welcome.
2. give your bread a second life
sometimes my sourdough gets stale sooner than i’d like. in these cases i give it a second act: savory bread pudding, french toast using day-old guava cream cheese sourdough, or my current favorite — sourdough croutons. like discard focaccia, the recipe is simple while the possibilities for flavor combos are limitless.
this recipe is vaguer than my other ones. just like okonomiyaki is a way to eat a bunch of delicious sauces, i feel like croutons are simply a vehicle to get flavor profiles you want on a very crisp vehicle.
sub olive oil for melted butter for a richer flavor. add whatever flavorings you want. i like a generous amount of italian seasoning and garlic powder. sometimes a bit of parmesan cheese if i’m feeling fancy.
cut toss bake enjoy repeat. i hope this encourages you to love your day-old bread just as much as you love your fresh-out-of-the-oven crackling loaf!
sourdough croutons
formula
- stale sourdough bread
- salt
- olive oil
- italian seasoning
- garlic powder
- parmesan cheese
method
- pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- cut sourdough bread into small cubes. i like mine around 1/2".
- drizzle olive oil evenly over the cubed bread. gently sprinkle a light, even amount of salt over cubed bread, and then top with whatever seasonings feel interesting to you.
- you can combine the ingredients either first in a large bowl, or directly on the sheet pan. i hate doing dishes so i mix em up with my hands directly on the sheet. make sure the sheet pan is large enough as to not crowd the cubes.
- bake for 15ish minutes, or until croutons are crisp and dry. keep an eye on them to prevent burning. eat them in soups, on top of salads, or straight up as a snack.
- to store, wait until completely cool and keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
